With the government’s announcement on Monday 23 March 2020 regarding COVID-19, the Trust is closed for the foreseeable future. It is vital to reduce the spread of this terrible virus and keep our visitors, staff and volunteers as safe and healthy as possible. Rest assured that we have measures in place to make sure our birds are well-cared for while we are closed; that is our top priority. In order to do that, we need to do our best to ensure we have a strong and healthy Bird Team to take care of our birds, themselves and their families. Gary Benton, […]

We were very lucky that our Africa Project Officer Andre made it to the UK for a visit to the Trust (and safely back home to South Africa!) just before the virus restrictions were increased.

Due to the government guidelines on social distancing, we’ll be closing the Trust for the foreseeable future.  We feel we need to do our bit to help reduce the spread of this terrible virus and keep our visitors, staff and volunteers as safe and healthy as possible.  Rest assured that we have measures in place to make sure our birds are well-cared for; that is our top priority. In order to do that, we need to do our best to ensure we have a strong and healthy bird team to take care of our birds, themselves and their families.  We’re […]

But, the species still faces numerous threats. Our latest research on Red Kite population changes is out now!

What happens when the park is closed every year? We close for around four weeks at the start of each year to undertake vital maintenance and development projects. We’ve caught up with Gary Benton, our Head of Living Collection, to find out more about what the team actually get up to in this time:

Diego Mendez won our Marion Paviour award in 2019 for his fascinating research project with King Vultures! The King Vulture is one of the most understudied raptors in South America; Diego is using the funds from the award to survey roosts, foraging grounds and, potentially, nests of the King Vulture in central Bolivia.

We are extremely proud of the work we do in our National Bird of Prey Hospital™; we continue to deliver an excellent record in Bird of Prey rehabilitation. Our Hospital Manager Cedric Robert along with our vet John Chitty, members of the Bird Team, and dedicated volunteers work tirelessly to ensure the wild birds admitted to the Hospital receive the best care possible. 2019 was no exception; with approximately 60% of cases concluding in a successful rehabilitation and release back into the wild! Here are our highlights from the year:

January – A team of trained field staff were able to respond to a poisoning incident in Kenya on a hyena carcass, where 20 vultures were killed.

January – Recruited 9 new volunteers to help with our Kestrel Monitoring Project, walking transects to record bird of prey sightings. This research is extremely important for us to understand how populations across central-southern England are changing so we can work out the best strategies to conserve them.

We’re searching for Hampshire Heroes who deserve an extra gift this Christmas of an Owl Experience!